7 Ways to Eliminate Stereotypes About Aging

[caption id="attachment_6213" align="alignnone" width="625"] An Influencer in Aging on how active intention can do it [Photo credit: Adobe Stock][/caption]By George H. Schofield, Ph.D. for Next Avenue

(Next Avenue invited our 2017 Influencers in Aging to blog about the one thing they would like to change about aging in America. One of the posts is below; we will be publishing others regularly.)

When Next Avenue named its 2017 Influencers in Aging, a group I’m proud to be in, the site asked us: If you could change one thing about Aging in America, what would it be?

My answer was: Eliminate stereotypes. We are all pioneers, crossing shifting/surprising terrain. Longevity is an individual and collective gift. High quality of life relies on what we actively do with what we’ve got or can create. The catalyst isn’t age. It’s active intention.

The young medical receptionist looked at Sue, 72, and said, “Just take a seat, honey. Standing can be hard work.”

The dermatologist, 43, looked the patient, 66, in the eye and said, “I’m reluctant to give you this prescription because it’s my consistent observation that people over 65 can only manage and track a small number of daily medications.

These stereotypes aren’t imaginary examples. I’ve seen them all first-hand.

Thread in a Tapestry

Ageism, like any stereotype, doesn’t stand alone. It is woven like one thread in a complex tapestry of prejudicial stereotypes, which might include the threads of ageism, racism, sexism, cultural biases, financial capacity, educational affiliation and social classism. The potential list is endless.

To eliminate stereotypes requires understanding that they are a habitual way of thinking, individually and collectively. It also requires understanding five things about them:

Stereotypical descriptions may be individually or situationally valid, but they are always collectively simplistic and untrue. One person might not be aging well, while 100 others are.

They can originate anytime and be aimed at anyone, anywhere. Sadly, older people can be just as ageist towards each other as anyone else.

Stereotypes are often a mean-spirited form of put-down masquerading as humor. “Can’t you take a joke?,” people spouting them sometimes say.

They can be a product of putting your assumptions on autopilot. Years ago, you and a friend may have reached a negative conclusion about someone you knew who wasn’t good at dancing. But neither of you has been aware enough since to reconsider that decision.

Stereotypes can be a shared form of our belonging together. When you and I belong to the same group, we reinforce each other’s safety in belonging. “As long as we’re together, we don’t have to be alone or wrong,” you may think. “And they will never be accepted into our club.”

In the end, it’s almost impossible to extinguish one stereotype or another without destroying the tapestry into which we have woven it across our lives. This is because stereotypes actually reflect a way of thinking, patterns of speech and habits.

Stereotypes aren’t essential for leading a great life. They are essential for a life based on faux superiority, resentment and always having to be right.